


A Conversation with the Dead

by ErosVenus



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Death, Execution, F/M, Hunger Games, Killing, Murder, Romance, Spoilers, Spoilers for Book 3: Mockingjay, ballad of songbirds and snakes, teen, young adult
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:15:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24529006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErosVenus/pseuds/ErosVenus
Summary: (WARNING: THIS FANFIC CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE PREQUEL, THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES.  PLEASE DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW.)Failing to execute President Snow, Katniss is given a second chance but he reveals some shocking revelations about the tenth tribute of the Hunger Games.
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen/Katniss & Peeta's Children/Peeta Mellark, Lucy Gray Baird/Corliolanus Snow
Comments: 10
Kudos: 62





	A Conversation with the Dead

Everyone watches her. From the last touch of powder administered by Effie Trinket, swarms of the surviving rebellion surround her, as she recalls the final instructions of Plutarch and marches across the front doors of the mansion to the City Circle. How many people left in Panem? Millions? Thousands? The devastation of the rebellion and a society left picking up the pieces, hoping that they can rebuild to a better future, but even that seemed like a hopeless cause.

Katniss Everdeen realized that all was lost. Even with President Alma Coin in power, she knew that nothing had changed. The Hunger Games would continue, but this time with the Capitol’s children killing each other for sport and another corrupt government official waiting to implement their dangerous agenda. All she had fought for, the many friends she had lost, Prim being killed, had been in vain.

Bow and arrow in hand, she walks to the Circle. The side streets fill with bystanders and people watching, cheering, wanting the blood of Coriolanus Snow to be spilled for all the horrors he has caused during his presidency. They want him dead and Katniss Everdeen, the Mockingjay, was their hero and symbol to carry out such an execution.

Officials. Rebel leaders. Victors. They take their positions outside, waiting as the crowd cheers to see President Coin taking her place at the balcony. Katniss waits, turn to the roars of the crowd to see her side profile as the guards shove an emotionless Snow out for the world to see. The audience goes insane. Sounds of jeers and hisses and foul language surround the area as the former president of Panem ignores their responses and indignantly stands in front of Coin.

“Welcome to the New Panem. Today, on the Avenue of the Tributes, all of Panem, a free Panem, will watch more than a mere spectacle. We are gathered to witness a historic moment of justice. Today, the greatest friend to the revolution will fire the shot to end all wars. May her arrow signify the end of tyranny and the beginning of a new era. Mockingjay, may your aim be as true as your heart is pure!”

Her words mean little to Katniss. She knows they are simply a pacification to please the masses. The Mockingjay knows Alma Coin all too well, that she is no better than Snow.

The guards secure Snow’s hands behind a post, which is unnecessary. The man is weak, suffering from a terminal illness. He has nowhere to go. This is the narrow terrace of his former mansion, not the roomy stage of the Training Center. President Coin was doing this for show, to present to Panem that she now claimed the throne and had ultimate power. The bitch wanted to make a spectacle and she was using Katniss as her political pawn. The Mockingjay knew it, as did Coin.

“Mockingjay!” Coin announces. “You may fire when ready!”

Katniss nods, staring at Snow who simply grins in defiance. Ten yards away. That is how far Snow is from her. She only needs one. The bow purrs in her hand. Reaching back, she tightens her arrow. She positions it, targeting the rose that is placed on his military uniform, and observes his face. Snow coughs up blood. His tongue slides across his puffy mouth as she scans his eyes for any emotion, any feeling of anger, fear, or regret, but none surface. Instead, she hears the last bit of amusement in her head from their last conversation. _“Oh, my dear Miss Everdeen. I thought we had agreed not to lie to each other.”_

Ironically, they both did.

Pointing the arrow upward, she releases the bow string. President Coin topples off the balcony, hitting the ground dead, an arrow protruding from her heart.

Chaos erupts. Snow’s gurgling bloody laughter echoes in her ear. The crowd descends. Gray suited uniforms converge, pulling the former president back inside the mansion, while another pair drag her away. “Good night,” Katniss whispers, releasing the bow from her fingers, dropping the weapon to the ground. Rough hands grip the Mockingjay, pulling her back inside the building as she protests. “Let me go!” She snarls, attempting to wrest her arms from their grasps.

Before long, Katniss is handcuffed and blindfolded, carted down long passages, elevators, and deposited to a carpeted floor. The manacles removed; she removes her blindfold to see she has been locked inside her old room of the Training Center. The very one where she had lived during the last days of her first Hunger Games and the Quarter Quell.

Removing her Mockingjay uniform, she crawls into bed, the mattress stripped bare, and sleeps as her body heals from the lack of medical care she had been receiving since the rebel insurgence. Wrapping herself with her arms, she attempts to remember. _My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead. It would be best for everyone if I were dead…”_

Her mind drifts to the song her father taught her. The one illegally sang through District 12.

_“Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Where they strung up a man they say murdered three._

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.”_

The words offered a bit of comfort for her. She knew that perhaps live television was watching her, observing her, noticing her descent into madness. How else could it explain her motives for killing Coin in front of everyone. The surveillance made it impossible for any suicide attempt. Taking her life is a privilege of the Capitol. That is no surprise. Instead, she surrenders. She simply gives up and wishes for death to come. Hopefully soon.

_“Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Where the dead man called out for his love to flee_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.”_

Sleep finally arrives and Katniss submits. She slumbers for a few hours, before the door of her room opens and someone crosses around the bed and into her field of vision. Haymitch. “Your detention is over,” he tells her. “You’re being given a second chance to execute Snow. Don’t fuck it up!”

Second chance? What was he talking about? She had killed Coin in cold blood. That made her offense unforgivable. In her weakened state, strangers suddenly appear inside the room, including Effie and Plutarch, who help get bathed, dressed, and applied with medicines to heal her war wounds. Plutarch sits across from her, Effie by his side, as he stares at her.

“You must have a million questions!” Katniss doesn’t respond, but he answered them anyway. “Your killing of Coin caused quite a pandemonium. Her intention to reestablish the Hunger Games and using the Capitol’s children as tributes caused dissention among the people of Panem. It was like having Snow in charge all over again. After her death, we decided upon having an emergency democratic election. We want our future leader to be kind and just, treating all the districts as equal. We can’t move forward with rebuilding Panem if we turn back to the old ways. Coin’s death was a blessing in disguise!”

Katniss had never seen Plutarch in such a good mood. There was still the problem of public opinion to contend with. The Mockingjay would not be easily forgiven for her actions. Plutarch reassured her.

“Dr. Aurelius supports the claim that due to your trauma has a shell-shocked rebel, you were not in the right frame of mind when you shot Coin. The public is buying into this sympathetic explanation and won’t fault you for murdering Coin.”

“However,” added Haymitch. “They still want blood. President Snow deserves to be executed live, in front of everyone, and they want their Mockingjay to symbolically to do it. Strangely enough, Snow is agreeing to this, but on one condition.”

“Which is?”

Haymitch sighed. “He wants a private meeting with you first. He wants to die, knowing that his executioner hears his final words.”

“It’s up to you, Katniss,” said Plutarch. “I’ve been assigned authority over all communications and I can put in live feeds to the public of Snow’s death, whether you meet with him or not. Either way, Snow will die for his war crimes.”

The Mockingjay hesitates, before making her decision. “I’ll do it.”

Effie claps her hands in approval. “Excellent! And you’re going to look amazing doing it!” She approaches Katniss to straighten her braid. “I wonder if a Mockingjay pin in your hair would be too much?”

Katniss ignores the woman and shakes her head. “One condition, though.”

Haymitch scratches his chin. “What it is?”

“No arena crowds,” the Mockingjay orders. “Just a small room, guards posted. A few officials, watching from behind the glass window. Once I finish my conversation with Snow, activate the camera feeds and let Panem watch as I fully put Snow to death. No more spectacles. We’ve had enough of that with the Hunger Games. Agreed?”

Plutarch nodded. “We can work with that. I’ll notify everyone to get organized.” Turning on his heels, he proceeds to exit her room, along with Haymitch who makes one last suggestion to her.

“Don’t hesitate, Katniss,” Haymitch warns her. “You won’t get another opportunity after this.”

Slowly, she nods as she watches the pair leave her room. Left with Effie, her friend and advisor attempts to fiddle with the rebel uniform that she has on. “Now, should we put the lapels up or down?” Katniss releases a breath and allows Effie Trinket to work her magic.

An hour later, Katniss Everdeen is led through a series of corridors of the mansion, followed by armed guards. She finds herself once again in Snow’s private quarters, a greenhouse, possibly a favorite chamber of the former president, but now a temporary prison. Snow sits on a bench near a bed of roses, dressed in his old military uniform now scuffed and wrinkled, as his hands and ankles are weighted by manacles. _Is this necessary?_ Katniss asks herself, noticing his skin pale, and sickly green. The man is obviously in poor health. He holds a white handkerchief to cough up a spot of blood across the fabric.

“Miss Everdeen,” smirks the old man. “I’m happy you came.” He pulls a thorny rose from the bush, cutting a swath of blood across his finger as he replaces his crushed one with a new one on his uniform. “I see once again we have an audience.” He gestures with his head at the windows, showcasing officials, soldiers, and tributes observing the pair through the looking glass. “I can’t blame them. They are awaiting my death.”

“You accept death as if this is normal,” Katniss remarks. “You really don’t fear it, do you?”

“We all die eventually,” Snow grimaces. “It is inevitable. Why fear it at all? We can’t always escape fate.”

His words, as cryptic and vile, did nothing to sway her. She still hated the man. “Was it fate that you ordered those bombs to be dropped on my sister and the other children?”

Tilting his head, he frowns. “I am very sorry about your sister. Primrose, is it? It was so wasteful, so unnecessary. Anyone could see the game was over by that point. In fact, I was just about to issue an official surrender when they released those parachutes.”

Katniss’s gritted her teeth. “That makes no sense. You released those parachutes!”

Snow shook his head. “Well, you really didn’t think I gave the order, did you? Forget the obvious fact that I have a working hovercraft at my disposal. I would have easily escaped. But that aside, what purpose would it serve? We both know I’m not above killing children, but I take a life for very specific reasons. And there was no reason for me to destroy a pen full of Capitol children. None at all.”

“Then you’re saying that this was Coin’s doing?” The Mockingjay concluded. “She ordered the bombing of my sister and those children.”

Curling his mouth, the former president snickered. “I’m suggesting nothing of sort, but you’re a smart girl, Miss Everdeen. I’m sure you’ve figured it out. Coin and I are cut from the same cloth, using manipulation to justify our means. Alma certainly swaying Gale to her side, to set up a trap to parachute bombs on the capitol. I wouldn’t put it past her, but you’ve already knew that. That is why you chose to kill her over me, like murdering the lesser of two evils.” His face wickedly smiles. “Now, my question is this, Miss Everdeen, do you put your love in a man who knowingly betrayed you and contributed to the death of your sister or the man who repeatedly saved your life in the Hunger Games?”

Gale or Peeta? Katniss struggled to understand her feelings. Though drawn to her childhood friend, she had to admit that she had little trust in Gale anymore. Her eyes lowered as she looked away from Snow.

“Don’t weaken yourself now, Miss Everdeen,” Snow scowls. “You’re not a pathetic shell, like my progeny. You’re much stronger than that and, sadly, I failed to realize it from the very beginning.” He coughs up more blood into his handkerchief. “Yet, I fear I’m too late as I’m already dying and all I’m left of my legacy are fools and cowards.”

Confused at his comment, Katniss looks up at him. “What are you talking about?”

He smirks. “I’m talking about the third victor of District 12.”

“Third victor?” She scrutinizes his words. “There has been only two. Haymitch and me!”

Shaking his head, Snow cackles. “No, Miss Everdeen. There have been three. Have you heard of Lucy Gray?”

Katniss shrugs her shoulders. No such name ever registered as a tribute to the Games. In fact, no such victor ever did.

“Of course, you haven’t,” corrects Snow. “That because I intentionally purged her name from Panem’s history. She was the first tribute from District 12 to win the Games during the tenth year.”

“But if I remember correctly,” the Mockingjay remarked. “The rebellion of District 13 destroyed all public records and those early years of the Hunger Games were lost. Only the last fifty years are recognized in Panem’s history.”

Snow grinned. “That is because I made sure that during my administration, I’d destroy all records exhibiting any form of rebellion. Lucy Gray was the first winner from District 12. I should know because I was her mentor.”

Katniss’s eyes lit up. “You were her mentor?”

“I was eighteen at the time,” he informs her. “The rebellion left my family destitute in District 12, but our elite reputation allowed me access to the Capitol’s academy. At the time, the Games were disorganized, but I suggested village quarters and better treatment for the tributes and over time, I made it happen. When I rose to power as president, I calculated every move to made sure to know and eliminate my enemies and it is this philosophy that has kept Panem running smoothly.”

“By making others starve and suffer at the hands of the wealthy,” Katniss groaned. “Look at you now, Snow. It didn’t work out for you in the end.”

Snow smirked as he coughed up another spot of blood into his handkerchief. “You certainly have your motivations to loathe me, Miss Everdeen, but I once believed in kindness and compassion. That is why I was protective of Lucy when she was assigned as my tribute. I made sure she won the games.”

The Mockingjay rolled her eyes. “Why would you do that? What would you have to gain? What would it be in it for you?”

The old man glared at her for a minute before exhibiting another sinister smile. “Tell me, Miss Everdeen, you have a fondness for this Peeta Mellark. Though you both didn’t intend on it happening, your ruse turned into something tangible. Something real. I personally want to congratulate you on finding love. Your love inspires us all in Panem and will continue to inspire us every day as long as you both shall live.”

Taken aback by his remark, Katniss said nothing. Conflicted by her feelings, she kept quiet. Sensing the awkwardness, Snow took full advantage as he always does.

“I see you’re still not self-aware of your feelings, Miss Everdeen,” he grins. “Perhaps, I too should make a confession. At one point, I did experience love. Lucy Gray.” Katniss’s mouth dropped. He continued. “Yes, Miss Everdeen. I did fall in love with my tribute and I did understand kindness and happiness during this time.”

“What happened?” The Mockingjay wondered. “What changed you?”

“An ignorant euphoria of the world,” he explains to her. “Contrary to all those myths and fairy tales, no one lives happily ever after. I put all my love into her, setting aside my ambitions and dreams, just for the sake of loving Lucy. But it was all a lie. She betrayed me, left me die, while she escaped into the woods in the hopes of reaching the north to freedom. Do you recall the hanging tree ballad?” He began to sing, off-key but Katniss understood the words.

_“Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Where the dead man called out for his love to flee_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be_

_If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.”_

“I was the lover in the ballad,” he announced. “We were supposed to run away together but she deserted me.” His eyes displayed sadness with his words. “Since then, I’ve learned to trust no one, that humanity is cruel and unkind and the only person you can rely on is yourself. Love is a fool’s concept and can easily be manipulated, so I’ve learned to take advantage it, exploit it if necessary, to justify my objectives.”

Katniss frowned. “Is that how you feel with your own family? You would exploit them as well?”

Snow laughed. “Of course, Miss Everdeen. I don’t love. I married my wife because she came from an elite Capitol family. Wealth and power are the proper arrangement. Our children and my grandchildren are nothing more than political pawns, to ensure my power in Panem. I would easily dispose of them if they didn’t serve any purpose to me.” The Mockingjay scowled. Seeing her upset did nothing but cause the former president to smile. “Come now, Miss Everdeen. You know full well what I am. At least, I admit my faults. I may be dying and waiting for you to execute me, but let’s not pretend that I have any compassion or sympathy toward people. It’s not who I am, Mockingjay!”

The way he said Mockingjay made her blood boil. The man had no remorse or empathy left. Whomever this Lucy Gray person was, she made the mistake of falling in love with Coriolanus Snow. Gesturing to one of the guards, she signaled for the man to bring her the bow and arrow. Once retrieved, the guard handed Katniss her weapons. Noticing, the District 12 victor preparing for his death, the former president stood up and grinned confidently.

“Might I suggest that you strike the rose on my uniform?” Snow advised, as he watch Katniss back away and raise her bow and arrow. Suddenly, he began to sing.

_“Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree?_

_Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me_

_Strange things did happen here_

_No stranger would it be,_

_If we met at midnight in the hanging tree.”_

Slowly, she lowered her bow again. “How do you know that part of the song? It’s forbidden in Panem!”

“Lucy taught me the song,” Snow grinned. “She was the one that first sang it. She’s telling me to meet her at midnight by the hanging tree so we can run away together. Obviously, it didn’t happen. It’s also a confession of the three people I murdered that only she and I know about.”

“Is that why you killed her?” Katniss interrogated him. “Because she was a witness to your crimes?”

“Not at first,” Snow confessed. “If she only remained and understood my intentions, we would have worked the situation out differently. She wouldn’t have escaped into the night. She wouldn’t have betrayed me. Perhaps, I would have been a different man, but things happen for a reason and I’m what Panem needed at the time. I regret nothing.” He paused. “And no, Miss Everdeen, I didn’t kill her. In fact, she vanished, and she might still be alive outside Panem’s borders.” His eyes fixated on her. “Perhaps, you might want to tell me, who taught you the forbidden ballad?”

“My father,” said Katniss defiantly. “His adoptive parents taught him the song, and, in turn, he taught it to me.”

Snow’s eyes glanced up. “Adoptive parents, I see. Did he know his true parentage?”

The Mockingjay shook her head. “He was abandoned at birth in the woods of District 12. The Everdeens found him and adopted him. The name Everdeen was the name he passed on to us.”

Coriolanus Snow slowly nodded as he thought about this information. “Did you ever learn about secretive stanza of the ballad?”

“There isn’t one,” Katniss replied. “The song ends with the reference of the hanging tree.”

Snow cackled. “My dear Miss Everdeen, there is one more stanza you haven’t heard.” Once again, off-key, he sang.

_“Come here, come here_

_Meet me by the hanging tree_

_A child begat by our love_

_As I wait for you to return to me_

_Secrets forgiven, please wait for me_

_Come to me at midnight by the hanging tree”_

Snow’s words confuse her. “What does that mean?” She asks him.

“Isn’t it obvious?” He smirks. “Lucy Gray originated the song and when she escaped from me, she was pregnant. The baby she carried was mine!”

Shocked by this revelation, Katniss bit her lip in frustration. “That doesn’t mean anything. Even if you had a child with this Lucy Gray, you still abandoned her and the infant. You admit to using people to justify your means. Who is to say that you wouldn’t hesitate to kill Lucy and her baby again because they interfered with you plans?”

Snow laughed again, as he glared at her. “I see you’re not quite comprehending what I’m telling you. I had a secret lovechild that was given to a family to raise in District 12. When you offered yourself as tribute for the Games, I had your blood tested with mine. It turns out we’re blood related on your father’s side, meaning your father is my…”

“Son!” Katniss gasped. Her eyes displayed fury. “No! It’s not true! You lie, Snow! I am not related to you!”

The former president cackled. “Like I said before, let’s not lie to each other! I’m afraid so, my dear Katniss! I didn’t comprehend it at first, until I saw how closely you resembled Lucy, with your dark hair and features, until I performed a genetic test on you in the Training Room. It revealed that your paternal grandmother was, in fact, Lucy Gray. Hence, we’re related. This explains why I hate you so much because you have too much of your grandmother’s blood and personality in you. Her defiance and her betrayal are why I despise you, but as my enemy, I do understand you. Some of my blood flows through your veins, which makes you cunning and ambitious. You're still a Snow, even though you'll never admit to it. Pity, you picked the wrong side.”

Katniss raised her bow again, this time not hesitating. She targeted the rose on Snow’s suit. Unfazed, the former president stood proud. “It’s now the end, Snow. This changes nothing. This is for the people of Panem that you hurt, killed, abused, and the lives you’ve destroyed. We might be blood related, but I’m sending you back to your maker! You could’ve been a good man, Coriolanus, but you let your own arrogance and ambition destroy you and Panem. It’s time to die!”

“Spoken like a true warrior,” smirked the old man. He kept his position as more blood dripped from his mouth. “Don’t hesitate, granddaughter. You have Snow blood in you. You have more courage and resilience than the fools I call my own descendants. It’s a shame. Lucy should’ve given me her son to raise. Maybe things would have worked out in our favor. What is your father’s name?”

“Actaeon Everdeen, grandfather!” Katniss declared. She pulled back the bow string and released.

“Ah,” Snow’s last words were. “Like the mythical hunter.” The arrow pierced the rose, running right through his heart. Snow collapsed to the ground dead, as cameras caught the last moments of the former president’s death. Cheers could be heard from outside the greenhouse window as the Mockingjay carried out her plan and executed the villainous President Snow. Lowering her weapon, she sang the last few lyrics of Lucy Gray’s song.

_“No stranger would it be_

_If we met at midnight in the hanging tree”_

Twenty years, and despite the hesitation upon her part, the children of Katniss and Peeta have been a great blessing to the former Mockingjay. District 12, now referred to the Meadow, slowly rebuilds itself as a major agricultural industry for Panem as the nation finally achieves peace through the governing of elected President Paylor. With the Hunger Games no longer established and society working together as a collective, the people of Panem have slowly began to heal and move on from the devastation.

Gathering herbs from her garden, Katniss observed a tall woman with tattoos and catlike features entering the gated fence. Wearing a long dress and furs, the former tribute recognized the older female and embraced her.

“Tigris!” She called out to hug her. “What are you doing so far from the Capitol?”

“I needed a vacation from all the craziness of the city,” she smiled. “And I wanted to see how you were doing?”

“Things are going well,” Katniss admits. “The nightmares come and go but Peeta and I are handling it. Plus, the children keep us busy.”

“That’s wonderful to hear,” grins the stylist. “I also wanted to give you this.” She pulls out a white scarf from her satchel. “It belonged to your grandmother, Lucy. According to the story that Coryo used to tell me, Lucy hid venomous snake muttations in the scarf as a trap during the Games. One of the snakes bit him the night she escaped from him.”

Katniss formed her own conclusion. “I suppose that is what caused him to hate her and everyone else. He kept mentioning something about her betrayal.”

Tigris sighed. “He wasn’t a bad man in the beginning. It’s what our family did to him, instill this arrogance and self-entitlement that shaped him into his horrible human being. Add to that the corruption of Panem and Coryo became this person that even I no longer recognized. To tell you the truth, Katniss, I’m happy he’s dead. He’s finally at peace from his demons. Hopefully, you can forgive him.”

“I have, Tigris,” the former Mockingjay confessed. “I don’t hold any more animosity toward any of these people. What we did was necessary to bring Panem and our people back to a peaceful world. We now can heal.”

“One thing is certain,” Tigris added. “I’m glad that we found each other, even if we are distant cousins.”

Katniss laughed. “Blood is always thicker than water.”

The Mockingjay invited Tigris to dinner, to which the stylist accepted. Outside, the real mockingjays flit through the forest singing the songs they heard over and over.

_“Secrets forgiven, please wait for me_

_Come to me at midnight by the hanging tree_

_Here it’s safe, here it’s warm_

_Here the daisies guard you from every harm_

_Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is the place that I love you.”_

From their line of sight, they observe and mimic the ethereal spirits in the woods. One male, blond eighteen, holding his arms to a dark-haired female who runs into them.

_“Are you, are you_

_Coming to the tree_

_Come here, come here_

_Come lover, this is where I’ll be!”_

**_THE END_ **

* * *

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: THANK YOUR FOR READING MY HUNGER GAMES FANFIC. IF YOU'VE READ THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES, THERE IS NO MENTION OF PRESIDENT SNOW EVER BEING BLOOD RELEATED TO KATNISS EVERDEEN. I'M SIMPLY DOING AN ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE POSSIBILITY AND TAKING LIBERTIES WITH THIS SHORT STORY. IN ADDITION, THE CHARACTER OF LUCY GRAY WAS NEVER MENTIONED TO HAVE ANY DESCENDANTS SINCE HER FATE WAS LEFT UNKNOWN BY AUTHOR SUZANNE COLLINS. HENCE, THE POSSIBILITY OF PRESIDENT SNOW BEING RELATED TO ANY OF THE CORE HUNGER GAMES CHARACTERS IS LEFT TO SPECULATION. IN ADDITION, KATNISS'S FATHER HAS NO FIRST NAME MENTIONED SO I THOUGHT ACTATEON SERVED AS A FITTING FIRST NAME FOR HIM. ALSO, THE PREQUEL MAKES NO MENTION OF ANY BLOOD RELATION TO KATNISS. AGAIN, READERS CAN SPECULATE BASED UPON WHAT COLLINS LEFT IN HER STORYTELLING. IT'LL BE INTERESTING IF SHE CONTINUES MORE PREQUELS SET IN THIS UNIVERSE AND HOW HOLLYWOOD MIGHT TELL THEIR INTERPRETATION OF THE STORY IF THEY EVER MAKE THIS INTO A FILM.** _


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